New Horizons finds evidence for 2nd Kuiper Belt

 Hey, Space Placers!

Only 5 earthly spacecraft are headed out of solar system, into interstellar space. These are the Pioneers 10 and 11, Voaygers 1 and 2, and New Horizons. This image shows their approximate trajectories. Image (not to scale!) via NASA/ Johns Hopkins APL/ SwRI.

• The New Horizons spacecraft, launched in 2006, achieved historic flybys of Pluto in 2015 and Arrokoth in 2019, making it the fastest spacecraft ever sent from Earth.
• Chief scientist Alan Stern here provides an update, highlighting unexpected discoveries of dust impacts, an extended Kuiper Belt or even a second one, and outlines plans for future exploration.
• Its long-term mission goals include reaching the heliosphere’s termination shock and venturing into interstellar space, using its modern instrumentation to complement the findings of NASA’s Voyager spacecraft.

Read more about this exciting story from the far reaches of our KNOWN solar system. New Horizons is probing the distant unknown and can continue to do so for decades.

Sky Guy in VA